Da vulgarity and elegance means: Dasu is the ultimate, and there is another kind of extremely good vulgarity in the world. It does not deliberately pursue the so-called elegance, nor does it deliberately avoid being regarded as secular, but just lets nature take its course. , The heart is in harmony with the sky, and you do whatever you want but don’t let go.
The difference between the refined and the popular is closely related to the distinction between the gentleman and the villain in the pre-Qin period. Gentlemen and villains are divided based on people's character, while the difference between elegance and vulgarity focuses on people's tastes. When Confucius scolded people, he just called them villains. There is also a saying that a gentleman means justice, and a villain means benefit.
The oldest meaning of gentleman mainly refers to people who are educated and have good moral character. However, ordinary people do not have the opportunity to receive education, so they are also called villains together with those without virtue. In this way The way of classification has the color of Confucian ethics and culture, but it has a profound impact on the cultural psychology of later generations of China. This is actually the sense of elegance and vulgarity at the temperament level.
Later generations’ views on the distinction between elegance and vulgarity:
Because of the initial distinction between elegance and vulgarity, righteousness and benefit have already been involved. Therefore, when later generations discuss the difference between elegance and secularity, the attitude of righteousness and benefit has become a very important indicator. Those who attach great importance to righteousness are called refined scholars, and those who attach great importance to profit are called vulgar people. Under the agricultural-oriented thinking, the emphasis on agriculture and light on commerce maintained an inertial position in feudal society. Therefore, commercial activities based on profit-making have been regarded as secular activities since ancient times.
The distinction between elegance and secularity also led to great changes in the culture of the Song Dynasty. In order to maintain the orthodox status of traditional culture, some orthodox literati continued to reject and suppress the newly emerging secular cultural styles at that time, and also Time and time again, standards are set for elegant culture, hoping to differentiate it from popular culture by defining it.